If you, your spouse, or another loved one died suddenly, would you know where to find passwords, how to unlock their phone, or which bank branch is there to start carrying out their final affairs and last wishes?
Would you know:
- Password to other financial accounts
- Where or if there’s a Will?
- The name of the attorney or executor?
- How do you find insurance documents and other legal info?
- What do they want to do with their personal effects?
- Who will take care of their pets, their children, or the sale of their home?
- Who are the people who should be contacted to let them know, and how to reach them?
- How to ensure you won’t have to pay a probate attorney thousands of dollars?
- And that’s just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
The answers to these and many other important questions are answered at “Surviving the Business of Dying,” The Companion Workbook overview workshop that gives you peace of mind so that your family will be relieved that you took this time to gather all your details in one place. It is the best gift you could bestow upon your family. Just write it down!
“I am so grateful for ‘Surviving the Business of Dying.’
This class shows you what you should
know but don’t.”
~Claudia R.
It’s inevitable, that we are all going to go to that next place, whatever that is and when we do, the last thing we want is our loved ones worrying about the many things listed above and more. Don’t let it happen to you and to your family.
OCTOBER WORKSHOPS: “Surviving the Business of Dying” Companion Workbook
DAY: WEDNESDAY
DATE: OCTOBER 18, 2023
TIME: 1 pm OR 7pm EST
LENGTH: 50 minutes
WHERE: Zoom
When you register, you will receive a digital copy of “Surviving the Business of Dying” book and The Companion Workbook. In the workshop, we will review the varoius aspects of last wishes, along with detailed information about what you need, how to get it, where to keep it, and more. Your forethought, patience and time taken now on behalf of your famiy will elimiante angst and frutrations later on, providing peace of mind for all concerned.
When my sister passed suddenly, my Mom was against cremation.
As it turns out, my sister was not.
The only way we knew that was from the workbook we filled out before she died.
I was able to turn a potentially disastrous situation into something that mom could deal with. My sister was cremated and laid to rest with the rest of our family just as she wanted.
~Dotty S.
About your Last Wishes facilitator:
Mary Jane Charles, creator of Last Wishes ‘n Support, is on a mission to ensure that others don’t have to experience what she went through when her husband died suddenly. On a 20-minute car ride, her husband fell asleep and never woke up.
She says…
“I was numb in that moment. We were driving to a business appointment. I was driving as he was very weak this particular day. Upon arrival, I looked over at him. I knew he wasn’t sleeping. He was gone. The hospital experience without a medical directive proved to be equally bizarre. I had only used my phone to video him that morning. He gave his answers to the state directive questions as I asked them. It was a few hours later that I was sharing that video with the ER doctor. He asked, “Do you have his papers?” I said, “No, but I have this video”. He was shocked, never having had this arrangement before. He quickly disappeared (perhaps to ask his hospital administrator if it was acceptable). He returned and said there were to be “no extra measures” taken.
I don’t remember the 35-minute trip home. As I drove, my mind wandered almost aloud. I knew there wasn’t a Will or even notes regarding a funeral. I had nothing to go on business-wise. My son, then 28, was with me as we drove in silence (I think.). He fielded phone calls and then it began.
The funeral was a week later, given church/priest/people availability. Nothing I could control one way or another. I started pulling paperwork together. The “Do Not Have” list grew daily. I did not know any passwords, no bank contacts, no phone passwords, and so forth. Without any Powers of Attorney or signed Will with my name as the executor, I was stuck. He had died “intestate”, that is, he died without a signed Will. This meant the state probate court would handle his unfinished business. There were no shared accounts. The money was deposited in the state holding account for distribution at a later date. It was a nightmare. I had to shop for a probate attorney so that I could be officially named his “Personal Representative” in order to complete all the tasks, given to me by the state.
Once hospital and funeral bills were paid (Court issued permission to do so, 5 months afterward.) and a business understanding (Yes, there was a partner.) had been reached, the estate itself was finally laid to rest. It was eighteen months in total.
In the early weeks, I viewed my dining room. I called it my “war room”. My brain took one look that day and decided my paperwork was the beginning of a book. “Surviving the Business of Dying, Why Final Papers Matter” was named “Finalist” in its genre at the 2019 International Book Fest. Reviews were great, but common questions remained – “Where do I begin?” and “How do I begin?” The “Companion Workbook” was published in the fall of 2019. With its user-friendly format, this workbook provides a platform for wishes to be collected – by section – and in a detailed manner. It is at once a peaceable means to gather personal thoughts as well as a potential primary source (indisputably composed by the person who completes it) for the family after you are gone. Those who wish to write down their wishes now had a single place in which to write them. It becomes your collection of detailed instructions that smooth the way of executing your Will. It’s called a map.”
MJ’s passion lies in supporting those who want to ensure that their loved ones have a real map, filled with the littlest of details, so that the business of dying is easier, moved along without rancor or angst, and ensure that their last wishes really do come true. Her practical process is a tool in planning for your “Final Exit”, A complete workbook becomes one of the best gifts one can bestow upon surviving loved ones.
